Seven Simple Systems For Security Strength
Given the choice between dancing pigs and security, users will pick dancing pigs every time.
Data and device safeguarding measures you can implement - right now.
As more and more processes and documentation become cloud-based and collaborative, security systems among stakeholders are a must-have. It is essential for your business and your clients’ businesses.
When crafting up your security policies and trying to convince your team to adhere to them even if they are somewhat cumbersome, engage with this little thought:
Hackers, though incredibly sophisticated, often behave like petty thieves. They will try to find the unlocked doors, the accessible keys, the wallet in the back pocket, the unattended phone…
Put as many friction points in their way as possible, lock your virtual doors, and they may move on to the next victim. Security breaches are often crimes of opportunity unless the intended targets are big fish with big wallets, so a series of annoying-to-them practices act as deterrents.
Let’s noodle through what systems you can implement right now. They are in no particular order; the most important thing to keep in mind is that every one of these suggestions is inexpensive and simple to get moving on, so start picking them off in the order you think you can do easiest.
One
Implement a passphrase for business and in life.
With the rise of AI, human voices, mobile numbers and email addresses can be easily cloned, making it easy for nefarious characters to request actions from seemingly authentic contacts. We’ve all heard the personal stories of money requests from “family members in trouble”. In business, requests to move money or fire employees are actions that could be asked to undertake. In our personal and business lives, a first line of defence for this is to create a passphrase that must be used to complete actions with considerable implications. Make sure you change it when employees leave, of course, as well as on a regular basis.
Shouts to my friend Andrew Wall for bringing this up - I had it set up personally, but he reminded me to do it for business.
Two
Go all in on a password app.
Here’s how to set up 1Password (any password protector will be the same steps) so you will come to love and use it. You will wish you would have done it years ago rather than now, but you know… the whole plant a tree thing...
Enable the 1Password Chrome extension on all your “Chrome People”
Downloaded the 1Password app to your computer so you can easily make edits and create 1Password backups
Put the 1Password app on all your devices
This is critical - this is the one thing I did not do soon enough that made the key difference in my adoption
Relentlessly use suggested passwords to replace my previous ridiculously obvious, over-used, re-used ones
This is the hard part - it will take patience to request password re-sets, to use the manager to generate new ones, to copy/paste back into the reset boxes
You will be doing this for quite a while for the sites that you rarely access, so it does take time to get it all done
For me, I am in love with 1Password. I don’t know my passwords now; no wracking my brain to create or remember them. I don’t need to - they automagically populate when I log in everywhere. It’s seamless and wonderful - because I went all-in with the change.
Three
Create data location redundancy.
Data location redundancy is not a nice to have; it is a must-have to mitigate accidental or malicious data corruption and loss.
Practice three location redundancy and make sure one of the locations is client-controlled for all of their data and applications that you are involved with.
Three-location data redundancy speaks to not having app data backed up by that app - well, duh, Kellie. Ensure you are not using the app you are backing up as the backup location; enlist a third-party app for backups. For example, my QuickBooks Online files are backed using Rewind, and I use CloudHQ to back up my Google Workspace to Dropbox. For QBO, Rewind goes the extra mile in that it not only backs up the data, but you can restore the files transactionally and to a point in time.
Rewind is not just for QBO files; it backs up data in the e-commerce and productivity spaces.
Four
PIN-protect all your devices.
Whether it’s your desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone or tablet, make sure you have them all locked down with a PIN, password, and/or facial/fingerprint recognition.
Make sure each and every device has a unique PIN or password
Make sure the PIN or password is not the same as the ones you use for anything else, like banking, your Wi-Fi or your password manager app
Make sure all your team members are doing the same for devices that have work data and apps on them
Often, team members’ personal devices have business apps with client data and accounting apps, including email, file storage and the password manager…
Five
Teach your team and yourself not to click on links.
This is a hard one, but we must all be relentless about #ClickingWithCaution. There is a new game in town, too, where texts and emails are coming in under the guise of 2FA codes with clickable links. Ensure that if you haven’t requested one, you don’t click on any links in those texts or emails; 2FA codes won’t come with links.
Six
Enable and manage 2FA on your apps.
2 Factor Authentication (2FA), also known as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), while being a pain, provides a second layer of security when accessing programs. And almost as importantly, it alerts us when someone else is trying to access our apps. If you receive a legitimate code (not one with a link as mentioned above), and no one on your team or you is trying to log into that app, go directly to it and change the password.
Seven
Limit team access to apps, information and data - internal and client - to the bare minimum of what they need.
There are three main types of access limits:
Role-based
What they do
Attribute-based
More granular in that it is based on entitlement, characteristics of the required access and outcomes of their role
Policy-based
Deals with changes in things like organizational structure or systems and enforcement of access policies
Bonus #1*
Do not use your public-facing email or phone number as your login ones for your social media.
Or for your team’s company social media accounts. It is one less thing that hackers need to try to discern. Create a social media login email alias and use that instead.
I also use a private email login alias for my accounting applications.
Bonus #2*
Turn your team’s and your computers and devices off - automagically.
“The most secure computer is the computer that’s off.”
You can set up devices to shut down on a schedule (Google how-to for your particular devices). Even if you don’t do it using a schedule, turn them off manually at the end of the workday and, in particular, at the end of the workweek.
Hackers can’t hack a device that they can’t get into. They love to hack during off hours, particularly long unattended periods like weekends and holidays, as unusual activity will go unnoticed if the devices are unattended.
For the win, this is also good for the health of your computer fan and hardware, and those annoying software updates happen on shutdown (not right in the middle of an intense task or conversation).
Deciding on and implementing security systems feels daunting for many, so folks neglect to implement some simple measures. These seven, +two, systems can be set up immediately. You will have the measures to provide your team and clients with the front line of security defences they need.
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*I did two bonus security systems because I just couldn’t give up the alliteration of my title - Seven Simple Systems For Security Strength. It’s catchy, amirite?
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